


The fight with Otis and Ephialtes in Mark Of Athena takes on a whole new meaning in the context of Trials of Apollo

by Keyseeker



Series: ToA analysis [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Meta, Written between The Burning Maze and The Tyrant's Tomb, not fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24865951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keyseeker/pseuds/Keyseeker
Summary: The Otis and Ephialtes fight may seem like just a regular battle against the Giants - but if you've read Trials of Apollo, certain parallels emerge between events that occur during the fight and the overall themes and the events of ToA - especially for The Dark Prophecy and The Burning Maze.
Series: ToA analysis [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799089
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	The fight with Otis and Ephialtes in Mark Of Athena takes on a whole new meaning in the context of Trials of Apollo

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The fight with Otis and Ephialtes in MoA takes on a whole new meaning in the context of ToA](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/636658) by Flightfoot. 



Near the end of MoA, Percy and Jason take on the twin giants Otis and Ephialtes. Piper stands guard over Nico, whom they just rescued, but is taken out of the fight when some sandbags fall on her, injuring her shoulder. She’s forced to watch as Percy and Jason battle for their lives. Right after she’s injured, Jason races towards her:

_He ran toward her, completely forgetting about Otis, who aimed his spear at Jason’s back._

_“Look out!” Percy yelled._

_Jason had fast reflexes. As Otis threw, Jason rolled. (519)_

Unfortunately when Caligula was impaling his spear into Jason’s back in the Burning Maze, no one was able to warn him - Apollo was in shock, and Piper’s jaw was messed up. Considering how injured Jason was it probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but still.

It would be great if Apollo could see that particular fight, just in general, since it showcases exactly how much the gods have screwed up. Especially once Bacchus shows up. The Argo II crew sacrificed an entire trireme filled with gold, jewels, and diet coke, and he STILL refuses to help them! He wants them to entertain him too! He remakes the battlefield into the Colosseum, and watches.

_“This is a proper show!” boomed the voice of Bacchus. He sat in the emperor’s box wearing purple robes and golden laurels. At his left sat Nico and Piper, her shoulder being tended by a nymph in a nurse’s uniform.  
_

_(…)_

_Percy glared up at him. “You’re just going to sit there?”_

_“The demigod is right!” Ephialtes bellowed. ”Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods.”_

_Bacchus smiled lazily. “Juno says she’s assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Being a god has its privileges.” (525)_

This would all seem very, VERY familiar to Meg and Apollo. In the Dark Prophecy, Commodus traps them in his arena:

_In the center of the crowd gleamed the emperor’s box, bedecked in purple and gold banners that clashed horribly with the blue-and-steel Colts decor._

_(…)_

_Commodus himself rose from his throne. He wore white-and-purple robes and a golden laurel crown, as one would expect of an emperor (234)._

(…)

 _Commodus grinned down at me. “I had to rush things, old friend! This is just the dress rehearsal, but since you’re here, I scrambled to put together a few surprises. We’ll restage the whole show tomorrow with a full audience, after I bulldoze the Waystation to the ground. Do try to stay alive today, but you’re welcome to suffer as much as you want.”_ (236).

Bacchus’s line, “ _Being a god has its privileges_.” should seem familiar to Percy… and to Apollo. Apollo says something similar to Percy near the beginning of “Singer of Apollo”:

_“So if you know that your Celadon is in the city, why can’t you just look for her yourself?”  
_

_“I don’t have time! I have to practice. I have to write a set list and do a sound check! Besides, this is what heroes are for.”_

_“Running the gods’ errands,” I muttered._

_“Exactly.”_

I’d imagine that Apollo would feel very guilty, hearing what Bacchus said, since he used to believe something similar. Of course, that’s not even the worst of it. Bacchus just WATCHES as Jason and Percy fight to the death, and Piper and Nico can do nothing but watch, injured as they are, safe in the stands.

“ _[Ephialtes] sliced the tip of his spear down Jason’s chest, ripping his purple shirt into a vest. Jason stumbled, looking at the thin line of blood down his sternum. Ephialtes kicked him backward.  
_

_Up in the emperor’s box, Piper cried out, but her voice was drowned in the roar of the crowd. Bacchus looked on with an amused smile, munching from a bag of Doritos._

_Ephialtes towered over Percy and Jason, both halves of his broken spear poised over their heads. Percy’s sword arm was numb. Jason’s gladius had skittered across the arena floor. Their plan had failed._ ” (531).

I’m betting Piper remembers this pretty well - watching, horrified, as Jason and Percy are about to be murdered, with herself too injured to watch, and a god by her side who COULD help, but just doesn’t care. That probably plays into why she lashes out at Apollo after Jason dies:

_Her eyes flashed angrily. “You don’t care because you’re a god. You’ll go back to Olympus after you free the Oracles, so what does it matter? You’re using us to get what you want, like all the other gods.” (311)._

She’s seen how little the gods care, how they’ll happily watch heroes fight to their deaths. While in this situation Apollo actually WAS trying his best to help, she’s not exactly rational right now. And in the past, she might have been right. Apollo might have just watched. He says as much in The Dark Prophecy:

_“When I was a god, I would have been delighted to leave the mortal heroes to fend for themselves. I would have made popcorn and watched the bloodbath from a distance on Mount Olympus, or simply caught the highlight reel later. (283)._

But now? After everything he’s been through, every truth he’s had to face? I doubt he could EVER be that kind of person again, and he’d be disgusted and ashamed to see the other gods act like that… because he knows that he was once no different. 

That’s why it would be great for Apollo’s character development if he could see this fight. Seeing Jason nearly being killed by Otis and Ephialtes, with a god able to help, but unwilling; realizing how similar Bacchus is to Commodus; realizing that Bacchus’s attitude is similar to what his used to be; and seeing that Piper has BEEN through all this before, and realizing that she, and most other heroes, have good reason to believe that the gods will just use and discard them, treating them like toys; all of it would really hammer home to Apollo just how much the gods have screwed up, and how awful they’ve been to their children. He’s sorta realized this in the past few books, but he hasn’t really been faced with the full impact of the realization. He’d understand exactly why Jason told him to _Remember_. Because Apollo cannot allow this to continue. Because he can’t allow the other gods to continue acting this way, either. 


End file.
